Rockin Red Blog

Spring Forward with Vinkara #Wine

Spring forward, fall back, what is all this crazy time change business about? The modern understanding of daylight savings was invented by a New Zealander in 1895 and put into practice in 1916. Today it is most widely used in the US, Canada and Europe. We are 90 years into the craziness and I still cannot figure out why. Although I do not care to lose an hour of sleep I prefer to spring forward and quite frankly wish we would stay here permanently. To celebrate our extra hour of light we spent the first night of daylight savings dining al fresco in our back yard with some delicious food and Turkish wines.

Turkey is a wine dichotomy. On the one hand the country produces really beautiful wines from both indigenous and international grapes. These wines are often widely distributed throughout the world and fortunately in the US a beautiful selection of Turkish wines are available in most states and definitely online. On the other hand, the Turkish government places very high domestic taxes on their wine production to discourage the Turkish people from drinking these beautiful wines. I have been blessed to have tasted about a dozen Turkish wines. This is the third article I have written on Turkish wines. If you have not yet tried wines from Turkey I suggest you remedy this immediately. Here are two more to add to my growing list of Turkish wines recommendations. These wines were both media samples, all opinions are my own.

Vinkara Narince 2013: Crafted of 100% Narince (an indigenous white grape originating from the Tokat province in the Black Sea wine growing region, name means “delicately”), straw yellow in the glass; crisp aromas of white peaches, citrus peel, pineapple, white floral notes, and green herbal notes envelope the nose and wrap the palate; a light and crisp white wine the round acidity and a clean finish; very pleasant, easy sipping to enjoy by itself or with a variety of cuisine. SRP $15

Vinkara Kalecik Karasi Reserve 2012: Crafted of 100% Kalecik Karasi (an indigenous red grape known as the “Pinot Noir” of Turkey), vibrant ruby in the glass; aromas of bright red fruit including cherries, raspberries and strawberries are joined by dried rose petals, spice notes and savory herbal notes; a lovely marriage of bright fruit with soft earthiness, soft on the palate, well-balanced wine, soft acidity with dusty tannins, medium body with a lingering, nice finish. SRP $27.

I wanted to pair these two lovely wines with a nice Mediterranean meal. I found a great new blog from Pinterest called The Mediterranean Dish. From that blog I made Mediterranean Grilled Chicken with Dill Greek Yogurt Sauce, Roasted Greek Potatoes and Fattoush Salad. The meal was truly fantastic! A meal I will definitely make again and will even make for guests. It was easy to prepare (chicken and yogurt sauce prep the day before), and the potatoes were killer! My husband and teens literally cleaned their plates! I will circle back to The Mediterranean Dish for more recipes. Oh and the food and wine pairings were perfect! The meal felt very spring and the wines did too. Each wine was easy and relaxed and would pair with a large variety of foods. It was a wonderful dinner al fresco with great food and wine!

Vinkara Wines is based in the ancient Turkish region of Anatolia (believed to be the birth place of wine around 7,000 BC!) in Kalecik. They have emerged as a leader in the production of indigenous Anatolian grape varieties.

“It is my absolute pleasure to introduce these outstanding varieties to the world. The wines that we are making have incredible strong personalities and sing songs of our rich history.” Ardıç Gürsel, Founder, Vinkara

“Turkish wines clearly have their own personalities and distinctiveness to carry them to success. Our job is to identify and expose this, to understand, evaluate and promote these unique wines.” Marco Monchiero, Oenologist

My Song Selection: These easy going, flavorful and ever pleasing wines need a song to match. I think this song perfectly depicts their elegant yet casual nature. Plus I love the Beatles influence in this song! Enjoy.

Rockin Red Blog

Spring Forward with Vinkara #Wine

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